Credit unions (CU) are financial cooperatives where customers come first. Consumer-focused, they typically have strong ties to their local communities, while providing traditional banking services. Like banks, credit unions prosper when they have a good, happy customer base and low enough costs that they can make sufficient income to cover their lending activities. Even more, credit unions often get a public nod for overall customer satisfaction and lower loan rates. Going digital keeps customers happy and reduces operational costs, so the holy grail of a fully paperless platform holds a lot of attraction.

Now smart phones are everywhere and I’ll bet yours has a bank or credit union app (or two) with a growing list of services available with a few swipes and taps. The days for paper are numbered. Think about those interactions with your bank or credit union that still require you to sign a form.

The form is printed, mailed, signed, mailed again, scanned into the content management system and then shredded.

Elapsed time: Days and days.

Back to square one if the form is not in good order.

Cost: If you are an exec at a CU, your operations team can tell you the cost of all that paper and the many hands that touch it.

It isn’t pretty. Don’t even think about the trees that are sacrificed for the sake of a signature.

In an increasingly regulated financial industry, the need for signed documents isn’t going away. Signatures are here to stay, but not the paper. Credit unions and banks are turning to digital tools, like Digital Transaction Management (DTM), to get the signatures they need and replace the movement of paper atoms with the transmission of secure and encrypted documents signed on a Cloud-based web platform or a mobile device. If a customer calls a service hotline for a transaction, the call center rep can get a signature before the call ends. No trees, no lost mail and fewer lost customers.

If you are a manager at a CU, we’re here to get you started. Just leave your questions in the comments below or e-mail us at [email protected]

And if you want to meet with us in person, register today to attend DocuSign MOMENTUM 2015 in San Francisco. Click here to register for the three-day event from March 10th – March 12th.